Triple-threat Hartje takes the plunge

'Swiver' Will Hartje is a triple threat.

The freshman doesn’t just swim and dive — he sings too.

Hartje starts his day at 6 a.m. for morning swim practice, followed by classes. The day continues with afternoon swimming or diving practice — sometimes both — rehearsal for his a cappella group The Pennchants, and then he finally begins his homework.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a guy as versatile as Will is,” coach Mike Schnur said, calling him “a Renaissance man.”

Competing as both a swimmer and diver is rare in college, and Hartje’s teammates clearly respect him, yelling compliments from the pool as they warm up.

“Not many of us could commit to that,” junior Laura Klick said.

The appreciation is mutual.

“They’re for me all the way,” Hartje said. “They support me in all that I do. They come to my shows, and they watch me diving.”

The Jacksonville, Fla., native, who captained his national champion swim team in high school, expected to have to choose between the two sports. Every college coach that he met with told him that he needed to make a decision — except for Schnur.

“When I heard that I could do both, I just knew that was something for me, and Penn was the place for me to be,” Hartje said.

Still, his coaches are unsure where his future will lead. “We’re going to give Will all the freedom in the world to explore both and see where his future lays,” Schnur said.

And Hartje knows that while he loves both sports, he may be forced to choose between them at some point.

“I get to see where my talents will take me and maybe … I will focus on one if I see that I’m excelling in one and not the other,” he said.

Both Hartje and Schnur admit that it can be a disadvantage to participate in both sports, since Hartje has to split his energy between events.

But given that many Penn breaststrokers are battling injuries, Schnur is relying on Hartje to swim — especially as the team travels to Ohio for the Kenyon Invitational this weekend.

The winless men’s team is hoping to turn its season around and have a similar finish to last year’s invitational, in which it placed second out of five teams. But with seven teams competing, it will be more challenging for the men to see the same success.

After a solid start to the season, the women’s team (2-1) is hoping to repeat its first-place finish from last year’s meet. Schnur said that the competition last year was weaker than usual and that it will take much faster swimming to take the top spot this season

But the coach emphasized that his team has been swimming tired so far this season, and he made sure to give them extra rest in preparation for this weekend’s meet.

With a struggle sure to ensue for both teams in Gambier, Ohio, Hartje’s main goal is to help unite his team and put points on the board.

“There are divers and swimmers,” he said. “They’re on the same team, but there’s normally a gap, and I feel like I bridge that gap a little bit. It just makes us more unified and more inclusive.”

As the Kenyon meet is followed by four straight Ivy meets, unity is more important than ever, and Hartje can be the glue that helps hold everything together.

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